The Interior Alaska-Yukon lowland taiga ecoregion

Ecoregion

An ecoregion , sometimes called a bioregion, is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than an ecozone and larger than an ecosystem. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of land or water, and contain characteristic, geographically distinct assemblages of natural...

, in the Taiga and Boreal forests

Taiga

Taiga , also known as the boreal forest, is a biome characterized by coniferous forests.Taiga is the world's largest terrestrial biome. In North America it covers most of inland Canada and Alaska as well as parts of the extreme northern continental United States and is known as the Northwoods...

 Biome

Biome

Biomes are climatically and geographically defined as similar climatic conditions on the Earth, such as communities of plants, animals, and soil organisms, and are often referred to as ecosystems. Some parts of the earth have more or less the same kind of abiotic and biotic factors spread over a...

, of far northern North America

North America

North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...

.

Setting

This is a region of spruce

Spruce

A spruce is a tree of the genus Picea , a genus of about 35 species of coniferous evergreen trees in the Family Pinaceae, found in the northern temperate and boreal regions of the earth. Spruces are large trees, from tall when mature, and can be distinguished by their whorled branches and conical...

 taiga forest covering much of the central and northern interior of the U.S. state

U.S. state

A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...

 of Alaska

Alaska

Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...

 and Yukon

Yukon

Yukon is the westernmost and smallest of Canada's three federal territories. It was named after the Yukon River. The word Yukon means "Great River" in Gwich’in....

, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

, from the Bering Sea

Bering Sea

The Bering Sea is a marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean. It comprises a deep water basin, which then rises through a narrow slope into the shallower water above the continental shelves....

 and Beaufort Sea

Beaufort Sea

The Beaufort Sea is a marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean, located north of the Northwest Territories, the Yukon, and Alaska, west of Canada's Arctic islands. The sea is named after hydrographer Sir Francis Beaufort...

 coasts to the Richardson Mountains

Richardson Mountains

The Richardson Mountains are a mountain range located west of the mouth of the Mackenzie River in northern Yukon, Canada. They parallel the northernmost part of the boundary of the Yukon and Northwest Territories....

 in the east with the Brooks Range

Brooks Range

The Brooks Range is a mountain range in far northern North America. It stretches from west to east across northern Alaska and into Canada's Yukon Territory, a total distance of about 1100 km . The mountains top out at over 2,700 m . The range is believed to be approximately 126 million years old...

 to the north and the Alaska Range

Alaska Range

The Alaska Range is a relatively narrow, 650-km-long mountain range in the southcentral region of the U.S. state of Alaska, from Lake Clark at its southwest end to the White River in Canada's Yukon Territory in the southeast...

 to the south. This is an area of low hills and flatlands from sea level to 600m. In the northeast of the ecoregion lies the Yukon Flats

Yukon Flats

The Yukon Flats are a vast area of wetlands, forest, bog, and low-lying ground centered on the confluence of the Yukon River, Porcupine River, and Chandalar River in the central portion of the U.S. state of Alaska. The Yukon Flats are bordered in the north by the Brooks Range, in the south by the...

, a vast area of wetlands, forest, bog, and low-lying ground at the confluence of the Yukon River

Yukon River

The Yukon River is a major watercourse of northwestern North America. The source of the river is located in British Columbia, Canada. The next portion lies in, and gives its name to Yukon Territory. The lower half of the river lies in the U.S. state of Alaska. The river is long and empties into...

, Porcupine River

Porcupine River

The Porcupine River is a river that runs through Alaska and the Yukon. Having its source in the Ogilvie Mountains north of Dawson City, Yukon, it flows north, veers to the southwest, goes through the community of Old Crow, Yukon, flowing into the Yukon River at Fort Yukon, Alaska...

 and Chandalar River

Chandalar River

The Chandalar River is a river in Alaska. Its peak flow recorded by the USGS was 62,800 cubic feet per second , on June 9, 1968....

, an area which for Arctic

Arctic

The Arctic is a region located at the northern-most part of the Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean and parts of Canada, Russia, Greenland, the United States, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Iceland. The Arctic region consists of a vast, ice-covered ocean, surrounded by treeless permafrost...

 North America is particularly rich in wildlife as are the similar Minto Flats also in this ecoregion. The underlying soil of the ecoregion is permafrost

Permafrost

In geology, permafrost, cryotic soil or permafrost soil is soil at or below the freezing point of water for two or more years. Ice is not always present, as may be in the case of nonporous bedrock, but it frequently occurs and it may be in amounts exceeding the potential hydraulic saturation of...

 and even though the area is close to the sea it has a continental climate

Continental climate

Continental climate is a climate characterized by important annual variation in temperature due to the lack of significant bodies of water nearby...

 with short summers and long, cold winters, especially inland.

Flora

The taiga forests are mainly white spruce (Picea glauca) in the warmer drier areas and black spruce (Picea mariana) where it is marshier but the ecoregion also contains scrubby areas of dwarf birch (Betula nana) and riverbanks of willow

Willow

Willows, sallows, and osiers form the genus Salix, around 400 species of deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist soils in cold and temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere...

s, alder

Alder

Alder is the common name of a genus of flowering plants belonging to the birch family . The genus comprises about 30 species of monoecious trees and shrubs, few reaching large size, distributed throughout the North Temperate Zone and in the Americas along the Andes southwards to...

s, balsam poplar

Balsam poplar

The balsam poplars — also known as Populus sect. Tacamahaca — are a group of about 10 species of poplars, indigenous to North America and eastern Asia, distinguished by the balsam scent of their buds, the whitish undersides of their leaves, and the leaf petiole being round in cross-section...

s and quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides

Populus tremuloides

Populus tremuloides is a deciduous tree native to cooler areas of North America, commonly called quaking aspen, trembling aspen, American aspen, and Quakies,. The trees have tall trunks, up to 25 metres, with smooth pale bark, scarred with black. The glossy green leaves, dull beneath, become golden...

). Specific habitats include the peat bogs and fens of the Old Crow Flats

Old Crow Flats

Old Crow Flats is a wetland complex in northern Yukon, Canada. It is north of the Arctic Circle and south of the Beaufort Sea, and is nearly surrounded by mountains. The site is protected by the Yukon Wildlife Ordinance and Migratory Birds Convention Act...

. Warmer, south-facing valley slopes are home to rare plants that have survived in this harsh climate including Shacklett's Cryptantha

Cryptantha

Cryptantha is a genus of hairy plants in the borage family . Some of them are heterostylous.- Selected species :*Cryptantha abata: Abata Cryptantha, Dent-nut Catseye, Dentnut Cryptantha...

 (Cryptantha shacklettiana), Erysimum asperum and alpine golden buckwheat (Eriogonum flavum

Eriogonum flavum

Eriogonum flavum is a species of wild buckwheat known by the common name alpine golden buckwheat. It is native to northwestern North America from Alaska to Colorado. It is a mat-forming herb producing erect flowering stems to a maximum height approaching 40 centimeters. Leaves are located at ground...

).

Fauna

This area is notable for its populations of Porcupine caribou

Porcupine caribou

The Porcupine caribou or Grant's caribou is a subspecies of the caribou found in Alaska and adjacent parts of Canada. It resembles the Barren-ground Caribou and is sometimes included in it....

, a subspecies of caribou named for the herd which roams the Porcupine River area and which along with two other large herds, the Central Arctic and the Western Arctic Caribou Herds, can be found in this ecoregion. Other mammals include large populations of bears, wolves and other predators while birds of the region include Rock Ptarmigan, Lesser Scaup

Lesser Scaup

The Lesser Scaup is a small North American diving duck that migrates south as far as Central America in winter. It is colloquially known as the Little Bluebill or Broadbill because of its distinctive blue bill...

, Northern Pintail

Northern Pintail

The Pintail or Northern Pintail is a widely occurring duck which breeds in the northern areas of Europe, Asia and North America. It is strongly migratory and winters south of its breeding range to the equator...

 duck, scoter

Scoter

The scoters are stocky seaducks in the genus Melanitta. The drakes are mostly black and have swollen bills. Females are brown.They breed in the far north of Europe, Asia and North America, and winter further south in temperate zones of those continents. They form large flocks on suitable coastal...

s, Sandhill Crane

Sandhill Crane

The Sandhill Crane is a large crane of North America and extreme northeastern Siberia. The common name of this bird references habitat like that at the Platte River, on the edge of Nebraska's Sandhills in the American Midwest...

 and widgeons. Finally the Porcupine River system is an important breeding ground for chinook salmon

Chinook salmon

The Chinook salmon, Oncorhynchus tshawytscha, is the largest species in the pacific salmon family. Other commonly used names for the species include King salmon, Quinnat salmon, Spring salmon and Tyee salmon...

.

Threats and preservation

These taiga forests are almost completely intact apart from clearance around the city of Fairbanks, Alaska

Fairbanks, Alaska

Fairbanks is a home rule city in and the borough seat of the Fairbanks North Star Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska.Fairbanks is the largest city in the Interior region of Alaska, and second largest in the state behind Anchorage...

 and some logging in the Tanana Valley State Forest and oil exploration is ongoing in Eagle Plains, Yukon, while the Dempster Highway

Dempster Highway

The Dempster Highway, also referred to as Yukon Highway 5 and Northwest Territories Highway 8, is a highway that connects the Klondike Highway in Yukon, Canada to Inuvik, Northwest Territories on the Mackenzie River delta...

 crosses the region and brings potential poaching of wildlife. The forest is regularly renewed by naturally occurring forest fires. Large areas of the ecoregion are contained within protected areas including Yukon Flats National Wildlife Refuge

Yukon Flats National Wildlife Refuge

The Yukon Flats National Wildlife Refuge is a protected wetland area in the U.S. state of Alaska. It encompasses most of the Yukon Flats, a vast wetland area centered on the confluence of the Yukon River, Porcupine River, and Chandalar River...

, Kanuti National Wildlife Refuge

Kanuti National Wildlife Refuge

Kanuti National Wildlife Refuge is a national wildlife refuge in central Alaska, United States. One of 16 refuges in Alaska, it was established in 1980 when Congress passed The Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act ....

, Koyukuk National Wildlife Refuge

Koyukuk National Wildlife Refuge

The Koyukuk National Wildlife Refuge lies within the floodplain of the Koyukuk River, in a basin that extends from the Yukon River to the Purcell Mountains and the foothills of the Brooks Range...

 (in the floodplain of the Koyukuk River

Koyukuk River

The Koyukuk River is a principal tributary of the Yukon River, approximately 500 mi long, in northern Alaska in the United States.It drains an area north of the Yukon on the southern side of the Brooks Range...

), Innoko National Wildlife Refuge

Innoko National Wildlife Refuge

The Innoko National Wildlife Refuge is a wildlife refuge in western Alaska in the United States. It consists of 3,850,481 acres of which 1,240,000 acres is designated a wilderness area. It is the fifth-largest National Wildlife Refuge in the United States. The refuge is administered from offices...

, Nowitna National Wildlife Refuge

Nowitna National Wildlife Refuge

The heart of Nowitna National Wildlife Refuge is a lowland basin of forests and wetlands that forms the floodplain of the meandering Nowitna River. The Refuge's climate is typically marked by light precipitation, mild winds, long, hard winters and short, relatively warm, summers...

 (on the Nowitna River

Nowitna River

The Nowitna River is situated in central Alaska west of Tanana. The river runs almost entirely through Nowitna National Wildlife Refuge. Part of the river is a designated National Wild and Scenic River...

 another tributary of the Yukon) and the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge

Arctic National Wildlife Refuge

The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is a national wildlife refuge in northeastern Alaska, United States. It consists of in the Alaska North Slope region. It is the largest National Wildlife Refuge in the country, slightly larger than the Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge...

, all in Alaska and established by the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act

Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act

The Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act was a United States federal law passed in 1980 by the U.S. Congress and signed into law by President Jimmy Carter on December 2 of that year....

, and Vuntut National Park

Vuntut National Park

Vuntut National Park is a national park located in the northern Yukon, Canada. It was established in 1995. Due to land claims negotiations, this national park is still very undeveloped. It currently has no roads or developed trails....

 in northwestern Yukon Territory, Canada. The Bonnet Plume River

Bonnet Plume River

The Bonnet Plume River is one of the Yukon's better-known rivers. It flows from a mountain lake source in the Bonnet Plume Range in the Mackenzie Mountains through several mountain ranges to its confluence with the Peel. It is very popular with outdoor enthusiasts as a canoe, kayak or rafting trip...

 and Wind River

Wind River (Yukon)

The Wind River is a river in Yukon, part of the Peel River watershed. The river is made up of long sets of Class I and Class II rapids, with virtually no flat water. The river is very wide and braided at parts, and can get very shallow. It lies to the west of the Bonnet Plume and Snake Rivers.The...

s that flow north into the Peel River

Peel River (Canada)

The Peel River is a tributary of the Mackenzie River in the Yukon and Northwest Territories in Canada. Its source is in the Ogilvie Mountains in the central Yukon at the confluence of the Ogilvie River and Blackstone River...

are popular destinations for rafting and kayaking.